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FREDERICK THE GREAT 

AND THE 

UNITED STATES. 



J. G. ROSENGARTEN. 



FREDERICK THE GREAT 

AND THE 

UNITED STATES 



A Paper Read Before 
The Pennsylvania-German Society 

AT THE 

Fourteenth Annual Meeting 

HELD AT 

Germantown, October 25, 19041 

BY 

J. G. ROSENGARTEN 




LANCASTER, PA. 
1906 



FREDERICK THE GREAT AND THE UNITED STATES. 




STATUE PRESENTED BY THE GERMAN KAISER WILLIAM II. 

UNVEILED AT WASHINGTON, D. C, NOVEMBER 19, 1904. 



FREDERICK THE GREAT 



AND THE 



UNITED STATES 



A Paper Read Before 
The Pennsylvania-German Society 

AT THE 

Fourteenth Annual Meeting 

HELD AT 

Germantown, October 2^, 1904 

BY 

J. G. ROSENGARTEN 




LANCASTER, PA. 
1906 



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FREDERICK THE GREAT AND THE UNITED 

STATES.* 



♦fF N view of the presen- 
n tatlon of a statue of 
Frederick the Great to 
the United States by the 
Emperor of Germany it 
may be of interest to re- 
fer to the contemporary 
sources of information as 
to the relation of Fred- 
erick the Great to the 
American Revolution. 
There is much interest in seeing how that great soldier 
followed the course of events in America and with what 
kind of welcome he received the American agents sent to 
Europe to enlist recognition, aid and support in the strug- 
gle for independence. 

* A paper read before the Pennsylvania German Society at Germantown, 
October 25, 1904, by J. G. Rosengarten. 

(3) 




4 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

The best authority on this subject is Frederick Kapp, 
whose two books dealing with the subject have not been 
translated. One is " Frederick the Great and the United 
States," published in Leipsic in 1871, and the other "The 
Traffic in Soldiers," published in Berlin in 1874. To 
these may be added " The Hessians and the other Auxil- 
iaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War," by 
Edward F. Lowell of Boston, published by Harpers in 
1884, and the ** Diplomatic Correspondence of the Revo- 
lution," edited by Sparks. Little on the subject is to be 
found in Carlisle's " Life of Frederick the Great," or in 
the latest German biography, that by Kosen, or in any of 
the other biographies of Frederick. 

Frederick the Great was very unfriendly to the English 
government of Lord Bute for its failure to carry out the 
support promised and given him by the elder Pitt when 
he was at its head. When the war of American Indepen- 
dence broke out, Frederick was charged by the English 
ministry with preventing England from hiring a Russian 
corps to fight for it in America and with allowing Prussian 
officers to serve with the Americans. Both charges were 
groundless, but served to show England's fear of Fred- 
erick's revenge for old injuries. Neither Steuben nor 
DeKalb was in his service when they volunteered in the 
American Revolution, and the other German officers who 
joined them did so of their own good will, and not with 
his sanction. The many " King of Prussia " tavern signs 
attest that Frederick was popular in America. As the 
leader of Protestant resistance to Austrian aggression, 
alike in Puritan New England, among the Germans of 
Pennsylvania and in New York, and with the leaders of 
the American Revolution, he was looked on as the ablest 
sovereign and greatest soldier in Europe, and his heroic 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 5 

struggle was pointed out as an example for America in 
its war for independence. Every expression of his hostility 
to England and his contempt for the German princes who 
sold their soldiers to England was published here. 

Washington, Franklin, Greene, all spoke of him with 
admiration. Steuben was welcomed as one of his soldiers. 
Jefferson spoke of his death as a European disaster and 
an event that affected the whole world. 

Frederick was guided in all he said and did by the inter- 
ests of Prussia. He hoped to secure advantages by opening 
a trade between his ports and those of America, by exchang- 
ing his linen and iron and other wares for tobacco and 
other American products. His representative in Paris 
met Silas Deane and reported to the King his request to 
establish diplomatic and commercial relations, recom- 
mending a commercial treaty. The King was ready to 
supply arms and other munitions of war in exchange for 
and when the Americans could land tobacco in his ports 
at a reasonable rate. 

A succession of American diplomatic agents went to 
Berlin, but the King would not recognize them officially, 
although his ministers said that when France recognized 
American independence, he would do so too. Frederick 
wrote to his brother to watch Washington and learn how 
he carried on war against Howe and Burgoyne. He 
granted the request of the American agent to buy arms in 
Prussia. He rendered, perhaps unwittingly, a still more 
important service by refusing permission to take German 
soldiers, on their way to join the English army in America, 
through his dominions, and thus delayed reinforcements, 
when Howe was waiting patiently for them, so that the 
Americans really were helped by him. His refusal kept 
these German troops idle in Germany all through the 



6 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

winter of 1777-8, while Washington and his little army 
were suffering at Valley Forge. Frederick's course was 
almost as useful to Washington as an alliance or recogni- 
tion, for it gave him time and helped to change the for- 
tunes of war, while, as the King said, without a fleet or 
forts to protect his ports, recognition could do no good. 
He saw and said that the business of recruiting German 
soldiers to serve against America was depopulating Ger- 
many of the men needed for his army. He watched the 
successes of the American army and felt a personal pride 
in that of the German soldiers serving in it, although 
Riedesel had married the daughter of the Prussian Min- 
ister of War, Massow, and his imprisonment after Bur- 
goyne's surrender at Saratoga, was a source of great regret 
to his friends in Berlin and the Prussian army. The King 
wrote in October, 1777, " I never think of the present war 
in America without being unpleasantly affected by the 
greed of some German princes, who sacrifice their troops 
in a war that don't concern them at all. My astonishment 
increases when I see this violation of our Old German rule, 
never to spill German blood in behalf of foreign interests." 
In 1778 he wrote to his minister in London: " I will 
never lend myself to an alliance with England. I am not 
like so many German princes to be gained by money." 
His minister wrote : " The German Princes who have hired 
their troops, besides having rendered themselves extremely 
odious, have suffered greatly by the emigration of their 
subjects, for fear of being forced into this service, which 
is excessively unpopular through all Germany"; and later, 
" His Majesty has refused passage to the auxiliary troops 
of Germany destined for America. He interests himself 
very much in the events of your war and wishes that your 
efforts may be crowned with success." Later he made a 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 7 

commercial treaty with the United States on terms that 
were very liberal, and thus set an example that other 
European powers soon followed. 

The legend that he presented a sword to Washington 
inscribed " From the oldest to the greatest General," is 
based on the gift of a sword with a very fulsome dedica- 
tion engraved on it by a cutler in Solingen. It had a 
curious history, for the son of the maker brought it to 
Philadelphia, when Washington was living here as Pres- 
ident, pawned it in a tavern, where it was redeemed 
by some unknown person, who took it to Alexandria, 
whence it was sent to Mount Vernon. Washington never 
knew who this was. His letter on the subject is printed, 
with a note explaining the real facts of the gift, in the 
eleventh volume of Sparks' "Washington," p. 169, etc. 
Now, however, the successor of the great Frederick has 
given the United States his statue as a memorial of German 
friendship. It may well serve to show how large a meas- 
ure of influence Germans and Germany have had in the 
making of the United States, and the friendship of the 
Emperor of Germany and the German people for the Re- 
public of the United States, and it will recall the share 
the great Frederick had in the success of the American 
Colonies in their struggle for independence and in the 
welcome extended to the new republic by the old King of 
Prussia. 

In Sparks, Vol. 11, p. 169, etc.: Washington writes to 
John Quincy Adams, Philadelphia, 12 September, 1796: 
" Sometime ago, perhaps two or three months, I read in 
some gazette, but was so little impressed with it at the 
time (conceiving it to be one of those things which get 
into newspapers nobody knows how or why) that I cannot 
now recollect whether this gazette was of American or 



8 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

foreign production, announcing that a celebrated artist 
had presented, or was about to present, to the President 
of the United States a sword of masterly workmanship, as 
an evidence of his veneration, etc. I thought no more of the 
matter afterwards until a gentleman with whom I have no 
acquaintance, coming from and going to I know not where, 
at a tavern I never could get information of, came across 
this sword (for it is presumed to be the same) pawned 
for thirty dollars, which he paid, left it in Alexandria, nine 
miles from my house in Virginia, with a person who re- 
funded him the money and sent the sword to me. This is 
all I have been able to learn of this curious affair. The 
blade is highly wrought and decorated with many military 
emblems. It has my name engraved thereon and the fol- 
lowing inscription, translated from the Dutch: ' Con- 
demner of despotism. Preserver of liberty, glorious man, 
take from my son's hands, this sword, I beg you. A 
Solingen.' 

*' The hilt is either gold or richly plated with that metal, 
and the whole carries with it the form of a horseman's 
sword or long sabre. The matter, as far as it appears at 
present, is a perfect enigma. How it should have come 
into this country without a letter, or an accompanying mes- 
sage, how afterward it should have got into such loose 
hands, and whither the person having it in possession was 
steering his course, remain as yet to be explained. Some 
of these points can only be explained by the maker, and 
the maker is no otherwise to be discovered than by the 
inscription and name, 'A. Solingen,' who, from the im- 
pression which dwells on my mind, is of Amsterdam. If 
sir, with this clew, you can develop the history of this 
sword, the value of it, the character of the maker, and 
his probable object in sending it, you would oblige me and 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 9 

by relating these facts to him, might obviate doubts which 
otherwise might be entertained of its late reception." 

Sparks, in a note to p. 171, gives the explanation that 
Alte of Solingen near Dusseldorf in 1795 sent by his son 
this sword, directing him to present it to President Wash- 
ington. The son sold it at a tavern in Philadelphia. 
More than a year afterwards the father wrote a letter to 
Washington on the subject. 

In view of the presentation of a statue of Frederick 
the Great to the United States by the Emperor of Ger- 
many, it may be of interest to refer to the contempor- 
ary sources of information as to the relations of Fred- 
erick the Great to the American Revolution. For that 
purpose, the following notes may enable the reader to see 
just how far that great soldier followed the course of 
events in America, and with what kindly interest he re- 
ceived the American agents sent to Europe to enlist his 
recognition, aid and support. 





Frederick the Great and the United States. 

(By Frederick Kapp, Leipzig, 1871.) 



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FTER a long series of 
offences at the hands 
of the English government, 
Frederick the Great was 
charged by it with prevent- 
ing England from hiring a 
Russian corps to fight the 
Americans, and with allow- 
ing Prussian officers to serve 
with America — both 
groundless complaints, serv- 
ing to show the English fear 
of Frederick's revenge. He 
took a friendly interest in the American struggle, but sent 
none of his officers to America, for he was never asked to 
do so. Characteristic of the general opinion, is Franklin's 
clever skit, the edict of the King of Prussia, dated Pots- 
dam, August 25, 1773, which made its mark alike in 
England and America. Frederick was popular in Amer- 
ica as the leader of Protestant resistance to Catholic ag- 
gression, alike in Puritan New England, among the Ger- 

(10) 



FREDERICK THE GREAT AND THE UNITED STATES. 




FREDERICK THE GREAT, BY KAULBACH. 



Frederick the Great and the United States. ii 

mans of Pennsylvania and New York, and with the leaders 
of the American Revolution. He was looked on as the 
ablest sovereign in Europe, and his heroic struggles in the 
Seven Years' War was pointed out as an example for 
America in its struggle for independence. Every expres- 
sion of his against England and the German Princes who 
sold their soldiers to serve under the English flag in 
America was published in exaggerated terms. Washing- 
ton, Franklin, Greene, all spoke of him with admiration. 
Steuben found a ready welcome as one of the King's pupils. 
Jefferson spoke of his death as a European disaster and 
an event that affected the whole world. 

The gift of a handsome sword by a Prussian artisan, 
Theophilus Alte of Solingen, was the foundation of the 
legend often repeated, that it was Frederick the Great's 
recognition of the American leader. Bancroft pays due 
tribute to his character, example and influence in America. 
Frederick never thought of anything but the interest of 
Prussia in the struggle between England and its American 
colonies. He hoped to secure great advantages for his 
maritime province of East Prussia. Acquired in 1744, 
he sought to increase the trade of its ports, by exporting 
linen and importing tobacco. In 175 1 Emden was made 
a free port, and first an Asiatic, and next in 1753, a Bengal 
trading company established. The merchants sent ships 
to China, East Indies and America, and the neutral Prus- 
sian flag protected ships sailing from Holland and Bremen. 

After the Seven Years' War, Frederick was ready to 
encourage fisheries and to attract business from Amsterdam 
to Emden. Silas Deane, the first agent sent by Congress 
to establish diplomatic and commercial relations, asked 
the Prussian business agent in Paris if arms and muni- 
tions of war could be got in Prussia for the American col- 



12 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

onles. Montesuy was active, but a little too energetic, 
and in July, 1777, he reported the inquiry and recom- 
mended a commercial treaty between Prussia and the 
American colonies. The King was ready to arrange for 
the importation of American tobacco at a better rate than 
that then paid for it, already advancing in price in English 
and French -ports. In answer to questions as to direct 
importation, Deane said that tobacco could be got in ex- 
change for linen, woollens, copper, lead and steel. Deane 
wrote to Congress urging that an agent be sent to Prussia, 
for while France and Spain were natural allies, and Italy 
needed American harvests, Prussia required information 
as to its own interests in trade with America (Diplomatic 
Correspondence, Vol. i, p. 45). Montesuy told Deane 
that the King would be glad to see an American agent in 
Berlin (Dip. Cor., Vol. 9, p. 346) and Deane asked if 
Carmichael would be received, and Carmichael went in 
the autumn of 1 7 7 6 by way of Amsterdam to Berlin. Car- 
michael showed ability in explaining the mutual advantage 
of trade between Prussia and America, but the King was 
not ready for a treaty, nor even to recognize Carmichael 
in any other than his private and personal character. Ap- 
pointed in September, 1776, Franklin, Deane and Arthur 
Lee addressed the Prussian government on the subject of 
establishing trade relations with the colonies. The King 
promptly pointed out the practical impossibility of com- 
merce, in the absence of either Prussian or American ships 
to carry it on, and asked for further information as to 
the method of exchanging Prussian and American products. 
The commissioners tried to enlist Frederick's help in pre- 
venting the shipment of German soldiers to serve the 
English in America, and promised to send a minister to 
Berlin to discuss commercial relations. The King replied 




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Frederick the Great and the United States. 13 

through his minister that an American agent might come 
to Berlin, but could have no official recognition, and that 
until America had established its independence, he could 
not enter into any treaty with it. Lee went to Berlin and 
at once set to work to point out the advantages and possi- 
bility of direct commercial relations between Prussia and 
America. There was an active correspondence between 
Lee and the Prussian minister, but the King simply al- 
lowed it to be carried on that he might gain time and infor- 
mation. He refused absolutely to open Emden to Amer- 
ican privateers, lest he should be involved with England, 
much as he disliked the English government and its 
American policy. In his correspondence and conversation 
he never spoke of the Americans as rebels and in writing 
to Voltaire, he sneered at the English, and in a letter to 
D'Alembert he anticipated American independence as 
early as October 5, 1777. He said that England had 
treated its colonies unfairly, that it had underestimated 
their power, had hired troops in Germany and provided 
no ships for their transportation, had bought in London 
provisions for its army that was to fight in Pennsylvania, 
where everything was much cheaper. The separation 
of Carleton and Burgoyne prevented the one from sup- 
porting the other. With all its troubles in America, it 
had quarrelled with Russia and Holland, and would soon 
be in open warfare with France. In November, 1777, on 
receipt of the news of the surrender of Burgoyne, which 
came from Paris, in spite of the effort of the English gov- 
ernment to conceal it, Frederick wrote to his brother. 
Prince Henry, that Prussia must watch Washington, 
Howe, Burgoyne, Carleton, and learn from them the 
great art of war, laugh at their mistakes, and approve 
when they act intelligently. His old hostility to England 
was increased by its war with Holland. 



14 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

The theft of Arthur Lee's papers (copied and returned 
to him) by the agents of the English minister in Berlin, 
was passed over by the King with contemptuous indiffer- 
ence. Lee, a young American lawyer of thirty-six, wrote 
a characteristic letter to the King of sixty-four, in the hope 
of securing his recognition of the independence of the col- 
onies at a time (June, 1777) when the King was sedu- 
lously avoiding any further difficulty with England. Lee 
wrote again and again, but never got a favorable answer. 
To his urgent appeal that no troops be sent from Russia, 
Germany and Denmark, to serve in America under the 
British flag, the Prussian minister replied that besides a 
few hundred German recruits, no more soldiers would be 
sent. William Lee, a brother of Arthur, and a man of 
more tact, never came to Berlin, but wrote frequently on 
all points of interest there. The King refused to take 
any steps until France recognized the independence of the 
English colonies in America. He granted Lee's request 
to be allowed to buy arms in Prussia, and added his request 
for information as to events in America, expressed a hope 
that the colonies might achieve their independence, but 
repeated his refusal to acknowledge it until France did so. 
Lee bought eight hundred muskets, but made the purchase 
a ground of complaint which met no favor from the Prus- 
sian authorities. 

The outbreak of the Bavarian Succession War (January 
3, 1778, to March 13, 1779) made the King anxious to 
enlist the sympathy of Great Britain, and cooled his in- 
terest in the American cause. When France did recog- 
nize American independence, Frederick said that he was 
too busy with home matters to consider the request of 
Lee, and as he had no fleet, his recognition could not have 
any real benefit for America. 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 15 

Lee continued to supply information as to events in 
America but got no encouragement as to recognition. The 
King indeed continued his abuse of the English government 
and was inclined to hinder their efforts to transport German 
troops through his kingdom until he needed English in- 
fluence in the Bavarian war of succession, and to gain that 
he was ready at least to cease sneering, as he had always 
done, at the petty German princes who sold their soldiers 
to England. He feared that his own army might be 
weakened by such a drain on the supply from which he 
drew recruits. With expressions of regard for the King 
of England, Frederick annoyed his representatives by re- 
fusing permission to take the Hessian Hanau and Anspach 
troops through Prussian lines to reach ports for shipment. 
The petty German princes had asked and almost obtained 
Frederick's consent to the sale of their troops to England, 
and therefore his interference was all the more annoying 
to its agents. The news of the surrender of Burgoyne 
made a very painful impression in Berlin, as Riedesel, in 
command of the Brunswick Corps, was the son-in-law of 
the Prussian War Minister, Massow. Most of the im- 
prisoned Brunswick officers were well known in Berlin and 
had been in friendly relations with the Prussian officers 
since the Seven Years' War. Eliot, the British minister in 
Berlin, wrote home on November 29, 1777, that the ap- 
proval of the passage (through Prussian territory) of the 
allied troops was already completed, when the news of Bur- 
goyne's surrender was received, and it was withdrawn and 
an end came apparently of all favorable Prussian policy. 

Frederick's refusal to permit the transport through his 
borders of any German troops engaged by England, fell 
like a bomb among the English recruiting agents and the 
German princes and their ministers. Sir Joseph York, 



i6 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

the English minister at The Hague, wrote to the English 
agent, Ralnsford: "The King of Prussia is too much 
feared for any one to risk sending troops through his boun- 
daries." Expresses and couriers hurried from one Court to 
another, notes were exchanged, and efforts made to induce 
the Prussian minister at Cologne and the commandant at 
Wesel to close their eyes, but all in vain. Faucitt, the 
English agent, wrote that " Hitherto the Rhine was open 
to all the world — now it is suddenly and unexpectedly 
closed. It is too late to change the route. At Minden 
the same interruption is threatened. I have written to 
Berlin and Hanau, Anspach and Cassel, and have advised 
Schlleffen, the Electors Minister, to send his troops around 
the Prussian borders." The English minister at Cologne 
wrote : " The troops cannot march over land or down the 
Rhine without passing Prussian territory and boats will 
be stopped at Wesel." The Anspach minister wrote: 
" If no means can be found to change the King's decision, 
all Is lost, we are ruined, for It is impossible to move over 
land." Ralnsford waited in vain, with the transports 
ready in Holland, weather favorable, and a day or two 
only needed to ship the troops. The only thing to do was 
to quarter the Anspach and Hanau troops for the winter 
In Hanau, and at the end of February, 1778, march them 
to the mouth of the Wesel, and It was only late In March 
that these 534 men reached the port of shipment after 
avoiding Prussian boundaries. The troops from Zerbst 
waited until spring, when they went through Saxony, 
Brunswick and Hanover to Stade, losing nearly half of 
their number by desertion — of 841 who were In the ranks 
on February 21, only 494 remained on March 21, 1778. 
The condition of affairs was largely Influenced, if not 
decidedly affected, by Frederick's policy. Washington 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 17 

was suffering all the hardships of his winter quarters at 
Valley Forge from December, 1777, to June, 1778. His 
weak force could not withstand a vigorous attack by Howe, 
but when the latter learned of Frederick's prohibition of 
the passage of troops through Prussian territory, Howe 
knew that meant cutting off the prospect of any reinforce- 
ment. It was not the few men delayed in their journey 
so much as the uncertainty for future German detach- 
ments. Frederick's policy was worth to Washington as 
much as an alliance, for it gave him time and helped to 
change the fortunes of war. Without really wishing to 
do so, Frederick rendered a real service to the young re- 
public. Frederick soon changed his tactics towards Eng- 
land, when he needed its support in the matter of the 
Bavarian succession. He declared that it was Beaumar- 
chais and his friends who were spreading false reports of 
his hostility to England to forward their own interests in 
the American Revolution. The King wanted to see the 
mother country again on a friendly footing with its Amer- 
ican colonies. Early in March the King authorized the 
passage of the German allied troops through Prussian 
territory. He and his ministers assured the English min- 
istry that the King never entertained any favorable con- 
sideration for the American rebels or their representatives. 
He wanted England's and Hanover's support. He re- 
ported that Austria was urging France to recognize Amer- 
ican independence and seize England's German province, 
Hanover. Little credence as the English gave to these 
reports, they replied that they would like nothing better 
than to renew their old friendly relations with Prussia and 
unite with that country and Russia in close alliance. Wil- 
liam Lee was in Frankfort, closely watching events. Bre- 
teuil, the French ambassador, tried to secure Prussian and 



l8 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

Russian recognition of American Independence in the 
Peace of Teschen, but It failed, just as did the effort of 
Spain to act as peacemaker between England and its colo- 
nies. Lee reminded Frederick of his promise to recog- 
nize American independence as soon as France had done 
so, but was promptly told that Prussia had no Interest In 
doing so, and as It had no fleet, could do nothing. Lee 
patiently waited, and John Adams advised Congress to do 
so, too, for the King of Prussia hoped to make Emden 
a sea-port, and to open through it trade with the Amer- 
ican colonies for his manufactories in Silesia and Holland 
and Brunswick would follow him In any course he might 
decide on. Lee continued to advise Prussia of American 
news, but said nothing of the surrender by the Danes to 
England of prizes of American privateers. Carmlchael 
from Spain received polite replies refusing to consider 
his appeals for recognition. Colonel Arendt, a German 
officer who had served in America, in vain sought permis- 
sion to use Dutch capital in trade to America under the 
Prussian flag. Lee, early In 1781, renewed his efforts, 
this time complaining of the hostility to the colonies of a 
Prussian newspaper, but to him, and to Arendt, in Decem- 
ber, 1783, and in May, 1783, to Jacob Philadelphia, a 
well-known Jew and quite a famous artist, all seeking Prus- 
sian recognition through business or other agencies, the 
same answers were given, refusing any action. Frederick 
soon showed England that it was for no love of that 
country he had granted permission for its German troops 
to cross his territory. In February, 1780, he had done 
this, but to the next application he made answer that this 
business of recruiting was depopulating Germany. Eng- 
land saw his Influence against It in St. Petersburg and Co- 
penhagen and The Hague. Frederick followed events In 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 19 

America and promptly and sharply pursued the English 
minister at his Court with sneers at the English trouble 
in America and praise for American success. England 
believed that Prussia and France were bound by some 
secret agreement to encourage the rebellious Americans, 
and that Holland and Denmark were inspired by Prussia 
in their hostility to England. With the peace between 
England and America, Frederick offered to enter into close 
alliance with Great Britain, and urged that the English 
troops be not too quickly withdrawn from America, for 
he doubted if that country could long maintain its inde- 
pendence. It was too large for a republic, a form of gov- 
ernment possible only to small, compact countries, such as 
Venice, Holland and Switzerland. He thought the time 
would come when some of the American colonies would 
want again to have the benefit of English government and 
to send representatives to Parliament. The Canadian ter- 
ritory should be very carefully guarded and General Carle- 
ton must treat the people very gently, so as to avoid any 
influence by French or Spanish agents. The Americans 
achieved their independence without any help from Fred- 
erick. All that he wanted was an outlet for the products 
of his country and a cheap market for their's, and the busi- 
ness came to nothing, because the Americans could not send 
to a Prussian port tobacco at low prices and take away in 
exchange Silesian woolen goods, etc. Of any evidence of 
political or personal sympathy on his part, there is no 
proof, but it is plain that he used the Americans only to 
advance his own interests in the game of European politics. 
Even the most zealous of his ministers could not encourage 
the American agents in their hope that Frederick would 
by his recognition give the weight of his good opinion to 
the struggling colonies. 



20 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

In Reddaway's "Frederick the Great" (Putnam, 1904), 
p. 317, it is said, " When at that time a new republic arose 
across the ocean, King Frederick made haste to enter into 
commercial relations with it, in order to exchange cloth, 
woollen stuffs and linen, iron goods and porcelain, for rice, 
indigo, and Virginia tobacco. The ' most favoured na- 
tion ' treaty. of September 10, 1785, between Prussia and 
the United States of America, fulfilled, it is true, few of the 
expectations which both parties formed of it, for the Eng- 
lish, who from a seafaring and capitalist point of view, 
were more competent, long continued to be the commercial 
intermediaries between those renegade colonies and the old 
world " ; then cited from Kosen, " Konig Friederick der 
Grosse " (Berlin, 1903), p. 332: "He looked on while 
England and her colonies fell to blows in 1775 (?) and 
while France joined in the fray in 1778. He blamed the 
English both for political and military folly, for beginning 
a terrible civil war with no settled plans or adequate prep- 
arations, for underestimating the enemy's force, for divid- 
ing her own, and for trampling upon the rights of neutrals. 
But he avoided with the most scrupulous care any action 
that could give offence to either combatant, and declared to 
his ministers that he intended to wait the issue quietly and 
to throw in his lot with the side which fortune favored. 
Just before his death (1785) he entertained at dinner 
Lafayette and Cornwallis." 

Kapp's " Soldatenhandel," Berlin, 1874, p. 151, etc. 
says: " Frederick the Great is almost the only ruler of his 
time who was worthy of respect, for he felt a personal re- 
sponsibility for his government. He was, too, the only one 
who followed great political aims with clear intelligence. 
He was without prejudices, called things by their right 
name, and his sovereign contempt for England and its 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 21 

allies supplying soldiers, was doubly beneficial. The King, 
like the German Emperor, had a close political interest 
in this, for it violated the laws of the Empire, and it de- 
prive both of a great number of men who would fill their 
regiments, if not drawn off by the war in America. At 
the outset it was thought the number sent would not be 
large enough to affect the supply needed for the standing 
armies. 

" With the large force sent in 1777, at the suggestion of 
the imperial representative, the Rhenish princes began to 
show hostility to the shipment of troops. The Austrian 
recruiting offices complained that the recruits preferred 
service in America, and many old soldiers deserted to go 
there. Frederick, too, although outwardly civil to Eng- 
land, had never forgotten or forgiven Bute for abandon- 
ing him, and spoke with bitterness of the government 
that thought everything could be done with money. In 
his ' Memoirs ' he wrote that England dealt with all the 
German Courts to obtain soldiers, thus diminishing the 
numbers at home. The King of Prussia quietly did his 
best to strengthen his own position and only incidentally 
interfered with that of England. He detained the new 
allies at every point in his kingdom, at Madgeburg, Min- 
den and Wesel, and he taxed their baggage, but never 
openly opposed their transportation. He was, from his 
dislike to England, always outspoken in his friendship for 
America, exaggerating, in his conversation with the English 
minister at his Court, American successes, and dwelling on 
English disasters. He was credited with readiness to rec- 
ognize American independence, when he really was not 
ready to do anything of the kind." To the surprise of the 
Anspach authorities, he wrote in reply to their request for 
leave to send their soldiers through his territory, a letter 



22 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

dated Potsdam, October 24, 1777, not printed In his works, 
nor published until Kapp made it known on page 161 of 
his book, from the Anspach archives as follows : 

" I never think of the present war in America without 
being unpleasantly affected by the greed of some German 
princes who sacrifice their troops in a matter that don't 
affect them at all. My astonishment increases when I see 
this violation of our old German rule, never to spill Ger- 
man blood in behalf of foreign interests. In answer to 
the request of the Anspach authorities for leave to take 
their troops in the English service through my territory, 
I call attention to the fact that there are other and shorter 
routes to England." 

In vain did the Anspach ministers appeal, and the 
English ministers, too, received the same short refusal. 
Sir Joseph Yorke wrote : " Every one has such fear of the 
King of Prussia that it is impossible to disregard his action 
in thus closing the Rhine." 

A lively exchange of letters showed the result of this 
unexpected interference with the free movement of the 
allied troops on their way to ports of embarcation. The 
Rhine princes took their cue from Prussia and made the 
Anspach authorities, as well as the English agents, very 
uncomfortable. No passage across Prussian lines, no 
quarters allowed, no baggage permitted, and naturally 
frequent desertions, the poor soldiers kept in boats, only 
allowed to land for exercise, were for four weeks anchored 
at a little Anspach town, and of course recruiting officers, 
Prussian, Imperial, French and Dutch, doing their best 
to tempt the poor recruits into their service. The poor 
colonel was at his wits end, when finally the English agent 
arranged that Anspach and Hanau troops should be quar- 
tered in Hanau, a fortified town, while the authorities tried 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 23 

to arrange for transport of the troops. After a long delay 
a way out was found, but with all this, the troops that 
left Anspach in October reached New York only in the 
next September. Later Frederick withdrew his objections 
and allowed free passage, but the Zerbst regiment had 
even harder fortune, with loss of men in its roundabout 
journey, and practically never even entered into active cam- 
paigning. The result of Frederick's policy was practically 
equal to a new ally for Washington, giving him time for 
restoring his waning strength and overcome his failing 
fortunes — so that even without wishing to do so, the King 
of Prussia had rendered the republican chief a great ser- 
vice. That Frederick the Great followed with great in- 
terest and close attention the course of events in America, 
is clear from his repeated requests for information from 
the Lees and other representatives of America in Europe, 
but his first and most important aim was the protection of 
his own kingdom and to that he sacrificed both his hos- 
tility to Great Britain and his benevolent interest in 
America. 

E. J. Lowell, in his " The Hessians and the other Aux- 
iliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War" 
(Harpers, 1884), p. 50, etc., states that Frederick the 
Great refused his nephew the Margrave of Anspach's re- 
quest for permission to send his troops to America through 
Prussian territory and quotes Frederick's statement on the 
subject of the American war in his Memoirs. " Ger- 
many," the King wrote, " already felt the evil consequences 
of sending so many of her men into those distant climates, 
and the King of Prussia did not like to see the Empire 
deprived of all its defenders, especially in the case of a 
new war and for this reason he made difficulties about the 
passage of the troops of the princes allied to England." 



24 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

Frederick subsequently encouraged the French Court to 
enter Into the American alliance (Bancroft, Vol. lo, ch. 
3). In January, 1778, Schulenberg, Frederick's minister, 
wrote to Arthur Lee that the King of Prussia would not 
delay to acknowledge the Independence of the United 
States as soon as France should have done so, but with 
the change of interests Incidental to the war of the Bavar- 
ian succession, this promise was not fulfilled. Later events 
made It still more difficult to secure from Prussia anything 
more, until it signed the commercial treaty with the United 
States. — Bancroft (ed. 1874) , Vol. 10, p. 240, etc. Fred- 
erick of Prussia had raised the hope that he would follow 
France in recognizing the independence of the United 
States, but later he wrote: "The affairs of England and 
her colonies disappear from my eyes," when the question 
of his protection of his own country arose. To William 
Lee he directed his minister to answer in 1778 : "We are 
so occupied with Germany that we cannot think of the 
Americans ; we should be heartily glad to recognize them, 
but at this present moment it could do them no good, and 
to us might be very detrimental." 

Lee's Importunities only made Frederick more reserved. 
From his camp he always put them aside, yet with gentle- 
ness and caution. He could not receive the prizes of the 
Americans at Emden, because he had no means to protect 
the harbor against aggression; they might purchase In his 
dominions munitions of war; and their merchants would 
be received in his ports on the same terms as the merchants 
of all other countries. 

In 1778, in reply to the effort of the British ministry 
to propitiate Frederick, he answered: "I will never lend 
myself to an alliance with England. I am not like so 
many German princes, to be gained by money." He re- 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 25 

lented so far as to allow a few recruits for the English 
army to pass through his dominions, but proposals for 
closer relations with England were inflexibly declined. 
He sent word to France, " I offer my vows for the success 
of the French." Prussia adopted the system of neutrality 
just when it could benefit the United States the most. In 
1779 he wrote: "The balance of power in Europe will 
not be disturbed by England's losing possessions in other 
parts of the world." 

In " Diplomatic Correspondence of the Revolution," 
edited by Jared Sparks, Vol. 2, p. 58, Franklin, Deane and 
Arthur Lee, Paris, April 19, 1777, write to Baron de 
Schulenberg, Minister of the King of Prussia : " From the 
Congress we have their commands to inform his Prussian 
Majesty's Ambassador here, that they propose to send a 
minister to your respected Court properly empowered to 
treat upon affairs of importance, and that we are in the 
meantime instructed and authorized by Congress to solicit 
the friendship of your Court, to request that it would afford 
no aid to their enemies, but use its good offices to prevent 
the landing of troops by other powers to be transported to 
America for their destruction, and to offer the free com- 
merce of the United States to the subjects of Prussia. 
June 5, 1777." Arthur Lee advises Schulenberg of his 
arrival in Berlin, June 7, 1777, advises him of the articles 
to be exchanged between Prussia and the United States, 
e. g., tobacco for muskets — a musket which costs here 
(Berlin) 22 French livres, can be sold in America for at 
least 50. With these 50 livres 200 weight of tobacco 
can be bought, which in Europe will bring 200 livres. 
June 21, 1777, Schulenberg to Lee: The King is very 
much disposed to please your constituents, but his Majesty 
cannot embroil himself with the Court of London. June 



26 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

29, 1777, Lee to the King of Prussia, urging recognition: 
" There is no name so highly respected among us as that 
of your Majesty. Hence there is no King the declaration 
of whose friendship would inspire our people with so much 
courage, and add so much force to our cause." 

Paris, July 29, 1777, Lee to the Committee of For- 
eign Affairs: " Pressing for aid from the King, in artillery, 
arms and money, I could obtain nothing but assurance of 
his desire to serve us if it were in his power. Schulenberg 
delivered me a message from his Majesty, desiring me to 
assure my constituents that nothing would give him more 
pleasure than to hear of their success, and that he wished 
whatever good news I might receive be communicated to 
him. I did not omit to press his interposition relative to 
German and Russian auxiliaries. In answer to this, the 
minister assured me that we had no reason to apprehend 
anything either from one or the other in the future. The 
German princes who have hired their troops, besides 
having rendered themselves extremely odious, have suf- 
fered greatly, and are still suffering by the emigration of 
their subjects, for fear of being forced into this service, 
which is excessively unpopular and odious through all 
Germany; under these circumstances, these princes are 
neither much inclined nor at all able to furnish new sup- 
plies. The troops already sent were their utmost exer- 
tions, and in all probability will be their last." 

October 8, 1777, Schulenberg to Lee: "We must wait 
for more favorable circumstances to begin a commercial 
connexion between the two peoples which his Majesty will 
receive with great pleasure in seeing increase, whenever it 
will not engage him in measures contrary to his principles." 

December 18, 1777, Schulenberg to Lee: " His Majesty 
will not be the last power to acknowledge your indepen- 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 27 

dency, but you must feel yourself that it is not natural that 
he should be the first, and that France, whose commercial 
and political interests pre more immediately connected with 
yours, should set the example." 

December 23, 1777, Schulenberg to Lee: "The infor- 
mation which you have had, that his Majesty has refused 
a passage to the auxiliary troops of Germany destined for 
America, is strictly true." 

January 16, 1778, Schulenberg to Lee: "The King in- 
terests himself very much (in the events of your war) 
and his Majesty wishes that your efforts may be crowned 
with success, he will not hesitate to acknowledge your 
independence whenever France, which is more interested 
in the event of this contest, shall set the example." 

Paris, June i, 1778, Arthur Lee : " The King of Prussia 
has found it so necessary to cultivate the aid of Hannover, 
Hesse, Brunswick, etc., that he has declined receiving an 
American deputy or following the example of France as 
he promised." 

February 25, 1779, William Lee, Frankfort: "The 
King of Prussia has formally engaged by a letter from his 
Minister, who writes in the King's name, that the mer- 
chants of North America, who should come with their 
merchant vessels into the ports of his Majesty to trade 
there, in merchandise that is not prohibited, should have 
full liberty," etc. 

In Hayden's "Washington and His Masonic Com- 
peers" : New York, 1866 (2d ed.), it is said on page 148: 
" Frederick the Great of Prussia, who was at the head 
of Masonry in Continental Europe, sent him (Washing- 
ton) an elegant sword with a complimentary inscription." 

In the Century Magazine, Vol. 19 (i 890-1, April, 
1 89 1, p. 945), is an article on "Washington and Fred- 



28 The Pennsylvania-German Society. 

erick the Great with the story of a mythical sword," by 
Moncure D. Conway. Washington ordered a bust of 
Frederick for Mount Vernon and had his works in thirteen 
volumes in his library. Conway says that Carlisle told 
him he had met no incident or phrase on which the Amer- 
ican legend (that Frederick the Great sent a sword to 
Washington- inscribed *' From the oldest General in the 
war to the Greatest ") might have been based. The story 
was originally told, not of a sword, but of Frederick's por- 
trait, in a New Jersey Journal of August 9, 1780. There 
is no evidence that any such picture was sent to Wash- 
ington. The only mention of Washington by Frederick 
in his voluminous works is in his " Memoirs," Vol. 4, p. 
175 — "Washington gained some advantages over the roy- 
alists who were assembled near Boston." His sympathies 
were in a mild way with the Americans — in his letter to 
D'Alembert, May 16, 1776. Frederick made no reply to 
D'Alembert's letter about the Hessians. On June 3, 
1777, he casually says: " War still continues to be made 
on the poor Americans." On July 28, 1777, D'Alembert 
asks his opinion of this war and the manoeuvers of Wash- 
ington, to which Frederick replied (Aug. 13) : " I venture 
an opinion that the colonies will become independent." 

We may feel tolerably certain that no gift was ever 
sent by Frederick the Great to Washington and that he 
never recognized in any remark the greatness of Wash- 
ington. There was, however, a sword sent to Washing- 
ton from Germany. In 1795 Theophilus Alte of Solin- 
gen made the sword which was No. 428 in the Centennial 
Exhibition (loaned by Miss Alice Riggs) and sent it to 
General Washington by his son. The son did not take 
it to Washington, but pawned it at a tavern in Philadelphia 
for thirty dollars. A gentleman redeemed it and left it 



Frederick the Great and the United States. 29 

with another in Alexandria who repaid the money and 
sent it to Washington. On it is Washington's name and 
an inscription in German " Condemner of despotism, pre- 
server of liberty, glorious man, take from my son's hands 
the sword, I beg you. A. Solingen." This translation 
was made for Washington, who thought it was Dutch, 
and " Solingen " the name of a man in Amsterdam. But 
a year later Alte wrote to him and the facts came out. 
This was the sword chosen by George Steptoe Washing- 
ton under the terms of his uncle's will. It was buried 
during the Civil War, and it is still rusty, but its admirable 
workmanship is still evident. Washington was a good 
deal mystified about the sword, and instituted inquiries 
during the year in which he heard nothing from Alte or 
his son. It is possible that during that time the story 
which had been told about a picture of Frederick was mod- 
ified into a sword legend. The earliest reference to it 
on record is on February 8, 1843, ^^ the presentation of 
the sword of Washington and the staff of Franklin in the 
House of Representatives. This was his service sword, 
marked 1757, which Washington had borne in all his great 
battles. It was presented by Samuel T., son of the Samuel 
(Washington's nephew) , by whom it had been selected. 




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